Hope
by SkitsMix
Summary: A somewhat alternate ending to the 2k3 episode Same as it Never Was, because I found it kind of hard to believe that Don and April wouldn't have at least checked the others right after the fight…


The Tunneller's drill has barely stopped spinning, the remains of Shredder's exosuit still raining down onto the floor, when April and Don both drop everything and rush towards the fallen turtles. Hope and despair well within them in equal measure, fighting for dominance. Maybe there's still time, maybe there's still a chance...

April's the closest to Leo and Raph, and she drops to her knees beside them, her hands frantically searching them for signs of life even as Don dashes over to Mikey's side. He skids to a halt, almost slipping over in the blood slicking the floor (it's still warm, it's still _warm_, but there's so _much_ of it), and crouches down beside his brother's mangled form. His fingers press against pulse points, hoping for a heartbeat, while his eyes search desperately for some sign of movement, breathing, _anything_, even as he tries not to look too closely at the gaping, bloody wounds just yet. He doesn't even realise that he's muttering out loud, begging, the words tumbling breathlessly over themselves as they escape his mouth. "Please be okay, Mikey, we won, the Shredder's dead, please be all right, you have to be okay, oh please, Mikey, don't die, we _won_..."

A shout from April ("They're still alive! I don't know for how much longer, they're in bad shape, we're gonna need help, but they're _alive_!") startles Don and he twitches as hope and relief and anxiety surge through him, but his eyes never leave his orange-masked brother, his hands still pressed against the scarred, bloodied skin. He can't - _won't_ - leave Mikey's side until he's _sure_, one way or another...

_There!_ A faint flicker of a pulse beneath his fingertips, a slight rise of the battered, bloodstained plastron, a hiss of gurgling breath - then Mikey's eyes open just a crack, and the flow of words from Don's mouth abrubtly cuts off as his breath catches in his throat. "Mikey...?" he breathes after a moment, barely daring to hope.

"... We won?" The words are almost inaudible, nearly drowned out by the gurgling rasp of air through Mikey's blood-choked throat, but Don somehow makes them out anyway, and he nods.

"We _won_." Then Don's hands are moving again, working to stem the bleeding, to close the gaping wounds, to hold death at bay, even as Mikey's mouth twitches into a bloodied ghost of a smile.

"Knew you'd... get him," he murmurs, his eyes never leaving Don's face. "It was... good to see you again, bro..."

There are suddenly tears in Don's eyes but he can't stop to acknowledge them, can't take the time to wipe them away; there's too much to do if he wants his brother to keep breathing, to keep _living_. "Hold on, Mikey," he urges, his hands moving frantically. "Just hold on. You'll be okay, Leo and Raph will be okay, you're all going to be all right..." He can hear April in the background, working as frantically as he is, giving the turtles beneath her hands her own reassurances, and for a moment, Don wants to believe that their words are true and that everything _will_ be okay.

Then rippling, coruscating blue energy engulfs him, and his hands, no longer blood-stained, pass _through_ Mikey.

Don freezes for a brief moment, his eyes wide with horror. "No... _no!_ Not yet, not _now!_" He can feel himself being pulled away, stronger than before, irresistable and unrelenting. "April! It's happening again!" He tries desperately to stay where he is, to keep fighting for his brother's life, because he _knows_ that April won't be able to keep all three of the injured turtles alive by herself, not without his help.

Maybe not even _with_ his help.

But the energy keeps pulling at him, and his hands can no longer touch anything, and despite all his efforts there's nothing more he can do. Mikey's expression is oddly calm and accepting despite the pain he must be in, the faint smile still on his face as he looks up at Don's blue-flickering form.

Don's gaze flickers over to April, still kneeling by Leo and Raph, but looking back at _him_, her eyes wide. "Donnie, remember, there's always hope! No matter what! And..."

He doesn't hear the end of April's sentence; but as he looks back down at Mikey, he does, through the brightening blue energy, see Mikey's mouth move, carefully shaping two precious, fragile words, just before everything disappears in a flash of blue-white.

_"Thank you."_


End file.
